Premium Blend: Lufthansa Extends Private Jet Deal

Lufthansa extended its contract with NetJets by five years to operate the carrier's Private Jet service, which Lufthansa launched last spring. The service allows customers to book private air travel in conjunction with scheduled commercial flights. Lufthansa said "more jets will be on call, daily, in order to accommodate increased demand for the Lufthansa Private Jet service." Lufthansa said that up to 10 aircraft were booked daily since its launch, and about 60 percent of bookings "came from point-to-point connections to around 1,000 destinations in Europe and the Russian Federation." Lufthansa also noted that the number of connecting flights—those that blend commercial and private aviation legs—also grew throughout the second half of 2006, particularly in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich. Lufthansa Private Jet service offers customers a range of premium services including individual choice of catering and transit services, as well as separate passport and security checks. Meanwhile, Lufthansa beginning April 1 will offer Private Jet service customers free limousine transfers to and from the airport. Lufthansa partnered with Sixt, which provides a fleet of Mercedes limousines for ground transportation services.

JAL To Launch Intra-Japan First Class
Japan Airlines this fall plans to launch first class service on intra-Japan flights, for the first time offering three classes of service there. The carrier in 2004 introduced "Class J" to replace an earlier incarnation of business class service, and cited customer demand as the impetus to offer another tier. The carrier intends to roll out the new service on 15 Boeing 777s. Each plane will hold 14 first class seats, each with a pitch of 50 inches—10 more inches than on the carrier's business class "Superseat." The carrier also said that next year it plans to introduce new seats in first, executive and economy classes.

Marriott To Enhance Digital Connectivity
Three upscale Marriott International brands—JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Renaissance Hotels & Resorts—are adding LCD televisions with digital connectivity panels to all guest rooms in the United States and Canada. The panels allow guests to connect laptops, camcorders, digital cameras and music devices to the 32-inch-screen televisions. "Today's hotel guests typically travel with many digital devices, not just a laptop, so providing more than high-speed Internet access and Wi-Fi is a must," said Bob McCarthy, Marriott president for North American lodging operations and global brand management. Marriott expects to have the devices in one-quarter of the three brands' rooms by year-end and in all rooms by the end of 2009.

Silverjet Planes Half-Full In First Month
All-business class transatlantic startup Silverjet posted a 45 percent load factor in its first month of operations and said that bookings are ahead of expectations. The airline, which this year launched twice-daily service between Newark Liberty International Airport and Luton Airport—about 30 miles outside London—said it carried a total of 2,911 passengers on 5,100 available seats in February. Silverjet CEO Lawrence Hunt said Silverjet's break-even load factor is about 65 percent, but it could be a while before the carrier achieves and steadily maintains that goal. "We expect to break even within 20 months from the launch flight. The plan is to expand both existing capacity and into new markets. We plan to have 10 aircraft flying within three years on 4 different routes. If each aircraft operated at a load factor of 80 percent and achieved an average fare of £999, it would contribute over £5 million per annum of operating profit." The carrier this month also said it has finalized its merchant acceptance agreement with American Express—the dominant payment mechanism of U.S. corporate travelers. The carrier also accepts MasterCard and Visa.